Last week, the Federal Government filed a suit at the Supreme Court to seek the enforcement of the full autonomy of local governments in an attempt to secure the local governments from the stranglehold of the state governors.
Local government is the closest arm of government to the people and it is mandated to take development to the people at the grassroots.
However, efficient governance at the level of the third tier of government has been hampered by the overbearing influence of state governors.
Funds meant for local governments in the Federation Account are paid monthly to them through their respective state governments.
In the suit marked: SC/CV/343/2024, filed by the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, (SAN), the Federal Government is seeking full autonomy for all LGAs in the country as the third tier of government.
It specifically prayed the apex court to issue an order, prohibiting state governors from embarking on unilateral, arbitrary and unlawful dissolution of democratically elected local government leaders, as well as for an order permitting the funds standing in the credits of local governments to be directly channeled to them from the Federation Account in line with the provisions of the Constitution as against the alleged unlawful joint accounts created by governors.
In the suit where the governors were sued through their respective Attorneys General, the Federal Government is praying the apex court for an order, stopping the governors from further constituting caretaker committees to run the affairs of local governments as against the constitutionally recognised and guaranteed democratic system.
In the 27 grounds it listed in support of the suit, the Federal Government argued that Nigeria as a federation was a creation of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, with the President, as Head of the Federal Executive Arm, swearing on oath to uphold and give effect to provisions of the Constitution.
“I believe the decision by the Federal Government to wade in and save the local governments from total extinction in the hands of our governors even when they (LGAs) are creations of the Constitution should be applauded because it’s a step in the right direction”
In a 13-paragraph affidavit that was deposed to by one Kelechi Ohaeri from the Federal Ministry of Justice, the AGF said he filed the suit under the original jurisdiction of the Supreme Court, on behalf of the federal government.
He averred that the local government system recognised by the Constitution is a democratically elected local government council, which should be paid the allocations meant for the local government.
Since the enthronement of democracy in the country in 1999, the administration of the 774 LGAs in the country has been hijacked by state governments.
Governors do not only choose their cronies to administer the local governments, they also dictate how their finances, especially allocations from the Federation Account, should be spent.
The practice cuts across political parties with a predominant number of state governments regarding the third tier of government as mere administrative appendages placed under commissioners for local government and chieftaincy matters.
This has caused the third tier of government to lose both financial independence and operational autonomy, rendering them redundant and incapable of providing even basic social services to the grassroots.
All the efforts and attempts to grant autonomy to the local government through constitutional amendment have always been thwarted by governors.
Even several courts, including the Supreme Court, had tried to intervene on several occasions on the overbearing attitude of the governors on the local government to no avail.
Not only are elections not conducted or chairmen and councillors frequently removed at will, sole administrators and caretaker committees are frequently set up to run their affairs all because of their revenue.
In 2022, former President Muhammadu Buhari accused the state governors of pilfering local government funds, adding that this had contributed to the underdevelopment of the system.
“If the money from the Federal Government to state governments is N100 million, let’s put it at N100 million — N50 million will be sent to the chairman with a letter that he will sign that he received N100 million,” he said.
To address the challenge of misuse of funds allocated to local councils across the country by state governments through the State Joint Local Government Accounts, the National Assembly had in March 2022 passed a bill abolishing it and providing for a special account where all allocations due to the local councils, from the federation account and state government, shall be paid.
In the bill, each local council was to create and maintain its own special account to be called the Local Government Allocation Account into which all the allocations will be paid.
The legislation also mandated each state to pay to local government councils in its area of jurisdiction such proportion of its internally generated revenue on such terms and in such manner as may be prescribed by the House of Assembly.
However, since the bill seeks to amend a constitutional provision, it had to receive the approval of at least 24 state Houses of Assembly, which was not possible due to the governors’ objection.
Even the move by the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit to abolish the states’ local governments’ joint accounts through which governors exercised absolute control over local governments’ funds was resisted.
The NFIU placed a limit on cash withdrawals from local governments’ accounts to a maximum of N500, 000 per day. It warned banks to ensure strict compliance.
Dissatisfied with the development, the 36 state governors, through their Attorneys-General and Commissioners for Justice, challenged the decision at the Federal High Court, arguing that it contradicted Sections 7(1), (6) (a) and (b) of the 1999 Constitution and did not conflict with the provision of Section 162(6).
In his judgment, Justice Inyang Ekwo threw out the suit, saying that there was nothing wrong with the NFIU directive. The judgment did not still stop state governors from tampering with their statutory allocations of local governments nor did it dissuade the governors from tampering with the funds.
It was against the background that last December, the Senate asked the Federal Government to stop the allocation of funds to local governments run by caretaker committees.
When the case came up for hearing last Thursday, a seven-member panel of the apex court led by Justice Garba Lawal, ordered the governors, who were represented by the state Attorneys General, to file their respective defences to the originating summons within seven days. It adjourned the suit to June 13 for hearing
Also, the Chairman of Independent National Electoral Commission, Mahmood Yakubu, recently lamented the unholy grip of state governors on the States Independent Electoral Commissions that has led to their conducting what he described as coronations of ruling party’s candidates in the Local Government Area elections rather than conducting genuine polls.
He charged the SIECs to stop the coronation of ruling political parties’ candidates and instead conduct proper local government elections in their states.
He said, “It is time to stop the coronation and conduct proper elections. State Governors should allow the SIECs to have greater capacity for independent action.
“Unfortunately, the conduct of Local Government elections in virtually all the States of the Federation has become mere coronation of candidates of the ruling parties.”
The conduct of the LGAs elections is one of the heavy stones tied on the neck of the local government areas by the governors who through it decide the leadership of the LGAs and by extension what happens to the finances. This has kept the LGAs under perpetual subservient to the state and continued to deny them autonomy as enshrined in the 1999 Constitution as Amended.
As a testimony to INEC’s claim, it’s very rare to have opposition candidates emerge winners in any of the state’s LGA elections. It has always been, according to their words, one hundred over one hundred signifying clean sweep of all the elective positions from Chairman to councillors.
The Convener of Say No, a Civil Society Organisation, Ezenwa Nwagwu in total agreement with the INEC Chairman condemned the excesses of politicians and their political parties for messing up democracy in Nigeria.
He said, the greed in the politicians is often brought to bear when they become governors as they turn out to be demigods.
“These politicians are causing untold havoc. Processes that should cost the country nothing in terms of human resources and finance end up gulping humongous amount of time and money because of their greed that leads to win all syndrome even as the result of that, they compel the SIECs to coronate their candidates, let me borrow the words of the INEC Chairman, who they also handpicked without internal democracy party primaries. This is the major reason Local Governments are dead in Nigeria. Don’t forget, the Constitution made provisions for three tier governments by recognising the autonomy of LGAs. But what do we have today, local governments as an office in the governor’s office. So why shouldn’t the Federal Government rise to right the wrong by using the laws of the land to lose the LGAs from the strangling influence of these governors. Yakubu’s observations and concerns are perfectly in order and must be looked into expressly.
The starting point is ensuring that SIECs, if they must remain, have to be freed from the stronghold of the governor’s and be made independent so that they will for once conduct local government elections and not coronations, but in the absence of that they should be scrapped so that INEC will take over the conduct of local government areas elections as they are doing in the FCT Area Councils elections. And look at the results in the FCT Area Councils elections, no single party wins all. That’s democracy in operation,” he said.
The INEC boss noted that having realized the shared responsibility for the conduct of democratic elections in Nigeria and the challenges faced by SIECs in carrying out their mandates, INEC encouraged the establishment of FOSIECOM in a genuine effort to foster partnership for credible elections in Nigeria.
“Over the years, attempts were made to encourage the SIECs to maintain their independence. We signed an MoU under which assistance in the form of training, provision of some facilities, institutionalization of the culture of planning through the development of a strategic plan, holding regular meetings with stakeholders, encouraging the SIECs to participate in our retreats and accrediting their officials to observe our elections.
“We also established the joint INEC/FOSIECOM consultative Committee headed by a National Commissioner. All these initiatives were proposed and undertaken in the firm belief that by working together, the 36 SIECs will leverage on the experience of INEC for a progressive improvement in the conduct of Local Government elections in Nigeria.
“Both INEC and SIECs are creations of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended). The conduct of Local Government elections is fundamental to the proper functioning of our democracy. In fact, Sections 153 and 197 of the Constitution establish INEC and SIECs as two distinct and independent bodies with powers under the Third Schedule Part I (F)(14-15) and Part II (B)[3-4] to organize, undertake and supervise elections,” Yakubu said.
The leader of a group, Nzuko Ndi Imo, Nze Reginald Okoronwogbo while insisting that the autonomy of LGAs begins with the freedom of SIECs from the clutches of the governors who are by their actions, the SIECs and RECs in their various states, argued that the conduct of LGAs elections should be transferred to the INEC to enhance development.
He pointed out that the crises the country is experiencing began with the tactical elimination of the local governments by the governors who make their stooges chairmen and councilors that serve their interest as against the purpose of developing the grassroots for which they are put there.
“I used put there because I don’t want to give the impression that they were elected because elections had never taken place in the first place even in the choice of party candidates. The routine is, once a politician is declared candidate of the ruling party in the LGA election, he or she will go for a thanksgiving for already having emerged as the Chairman or councilor even before conduct of the election. It’s happening in all the states and the consequences are what the entire country is suffering from. Insecurity, economic woes, poor education, name them. In education, the local governments are by the Constitution supposed to be in control of the basic primary education which is the foundation of education that should ensure that no child is denied the right to at least, a primary education but look at the alarming number of out of school children in a country that the Constitution empowers the third tier of her government to handle such responsibility. I believe the decision by the Federal Government to wade in and save the local governments from total extinction in the hands of our governors even when they (LGAs) are creations of the Constitution should be applauded because it’s a step in the right direction. As we talk, Imo State governor Hope Uzodimma is planning to conduct local government elections and the results will be known before the conduct like other states. How can democracy grow in such a situation when the fabric is destroyed?”
In pursuant to reforming democracy and taking governance to the grassroots, President Bola Tinubu during a national discuss on Nigeria’s Security Challenges and Good Governance at Local Government Level, organised by the House of Representatives in collaboration with the UK International Development said the Federal Government would work towards strengthening the local government councils as part of measures to tackle insecurity and various vices in the country.
Tinubu, through the Minister of Defence, Mohammed Abubakar, described local government as the cornerstone of the country’s security architecture.
The President, who confirmed that insurgency, terrorism, banditry, and other security challenges have undermined the peace and prosperity of the country, declared that it was imperative for the government to confront insecurity head on.
“It is in light of the foregoing that our administration is committed to implementing measures aimed at bolstering the local government system. This commitment is deeply rooted in our bottom of development approach; recognising that sustainable development, national security and prosperity can only be achieved when every level of government functions effectively and accountability. We must realise that the local government system is not just a matter of administrative convenience.
“It is a cornerstone of our national security architecture by empowering local governments to fulfill their mandate if efficiently and ethically we create a solid foundation for ensuring safety, stability and well-being of Nigerians.
“The local governments, being the closest government to the people, are strategically positioned in promoting human security by delivering essential services like health, education, sanitation and social welfare programmes directly to communities where they are most needed. They are important in ensuring that our communities are safe, prosperous and resilient.
“Therefore, it is incumbent upon us to strengthen our local government system to effectively address those challenges. By empowering local government authority with the necessary resources and capacities to implement sustainable development initiatives.
“We can create a more secure and stable nation. It is imperative to acknowledge that security is fundamentally about human beings first and foremost, not just the state.”
The Federal Government may have received the support of the lawmakers in its bid to make the local government councils viable.
Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, who implored state governors to prioritize the development of the country and support President Tinubu’s quest for full autonomy to the local government councils said the recent suit by the Federal Government against the states over the usurpation of the powers of the local government councils underscored President Tinubu’s commitment to the third tier of government.
“Before local government elections are held in the states, be it PDP, APC, APGA, LP, NNPP or any other political party, Nigerians already know the results. The names submitted by the ruling party to SIEC automatically emerge winners all through”
He admitted that the failure of local government is well known to the house adding that despite the extensive provisions of the 1999 Constitution regarding the existence and functions of local governments, that tier of government has failed to live up to its billing.
“Some of the most significant challenges impeding their ability to fulfill their constitutionally assigned roles include the covert usurpation of local government functions by state governments, lack of financial autonomy due to the State Joint Local Government Account, political instability from tenure irregularities, and pervasive corruption.
The Speaker assured Nigerians that the 10th National Assembly is determined and committed to ensuring local governments are recognised and sufficiently empowered to perform their constitutionally assigned roles by advocating for and enacting the necessary legislative frameworks to ensure that local governments are granted the autonomy they rightfully deserve.
He said, “This is not just a legislative duty but a commitment to the democratic aspirations of the Nigerian people and the Constitution. For this reason, I call on all governors to put Nigeria first and collectively support the President in the quest to grant full autonomy to local governments.”
Human Rights lawyer and commentator, Remi Lambert urged the National Assembly members to begin the process of amendment to the laws that established State Independent Electoral Commissions and abolish them.
He said, “The problem of the local government is embedded in the toothlessness of the body saddled with the responsibility to conduct elections but it handed its responsibility to the governors. Go through the 774 local government areas, there’s nowhere a chairman emerges from the polls, if there is it cannot exceed one percent. Political thugs who killed, maimed and destroyed opponents and their property on behalf of the governor are those settled with local government chairmanship. How can we develop a country that way? Before local government elections are held in the states, be it PDP, APC, APGA, LP, NNPP or any other political party, Nigerians already know the results. The names submitted by the ruling party to SIEC automatically emerge winners all through.
Yes, INEC has its flaws, but the situation will be different if INEC takes over the conduct of local government elections. The benefits are enormous. So I wholeheartedly support the call by the AGF to scrap SIECs because they are not relevant.”
